A German court has issued an injunction against FIFA ordering the governing body to reveal the identities and addresses of commercial ticket sellers on its secondary market. The Frankfurt regional court granted the request from Ticombo, a German online resale platform, after FIFA failed to appear before the hearing.
The ruling instructs FIFA to stop facilitating sales without informing buyers who they are purchasing from and where those sellers are based. However, the injunction applies only within Germany and is unlikely to disrupt operations for the ongoing tournament. Ticombo has indicated it will now take the case to Switzerland, where FIFA is headquartered, though this process is expected to take considerable time.
Allegations of Manipulative Practices
Ticombo’s legal action accuses FIFA of using manipulative design features to maximise profits from ticket resales. Unlike in countries such as the United Kingdom, reselling tickets at a profit is legal in the United States, allowing FIFA to operate an official secondary market where it charges a 15% commission from both the buyer and the seller. This means the governing body receives three separate payments from a single ticket transaction.
In its court submission, Ticombo alleged that FIFA employs bait-and-switch pricing, where advertised prices rise sharply at checkout. The platform also claims buyers face aggressive deadlines, including a non-resettable six-minute countdown that locks users out if they do not complete their purchase in time. Additionally, Ticombo criticised a “book the best seat” function that automatically selects the most expensive option available, and noted that individual ticket prices are often concealed until after selection.
US Investigation and Future Targets
The German ruling follows separate scrutiny in the United States. In May, the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey launched an investigation into FIFA’s ticket sales at MetLife Stadium following complaints that fans had been misled about seat locations. New York Attorney General Letitia James stated that “no one should be manipulated into paying sky-high prices for seats.”
With the majority of the 2030 World Cup set to take place in Spain and Portugal, Ticombo aims to establish legal precedents that would force FIFA to alter its ticketing practices before the next tournament. A spokesperson for the company described the injunction as “an important legal and public-interest step for football fans,” adding that “transparency, fairness, and consumer rights must remain central standards in the ticketing industry.”
FIFA has been approached for comment.